New York police officer fatally shot in Bronx shooting

A New York City police sergeant was fatally shot and a second officer was wounded in the Bronx on Friday by a heavily armed robbery suspect who was killed in the exchange of gunfire, according to authorities and local media.

The sergeant died after being rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, according to media reports. He was the first city police officer killed while on duty since October 2015. The second officer, who local media said was also a sergeant, was also taken to Jacobi.

A spokeswoman for the New York City Police Department said she could not confirm the death, and she provided no details on the condition of either officer.

Police did not disclose the identity of the officers or the slain suspect, and did not provide any other details.

The incident began when officers, responding to a report that a suspect in a home invasion had fled in a red sport utility vehicle, rammed the SUV with their patrol car after spotting it in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, the New York Daily News and other media reported.

One officer approached the vehicle and was shot in the face by the suspect, The New York Times reported. The other officer returned fire and killed the suspect while sustaining a non-life-threatening leg wound, the paper said.

Television footage of the area showed a red vehicle that appeared to have crashed onto a sidewalk.

Local media reported that the sergeant who was killed was 40 years old, and the other officer shot was 30.

The last NYPD officer killed in the line of duty was Detective Randolph Holder, who was shot while pursuing an armed suspect in the Harlem section of Manhattan in October 2015, according to Officer Down Memorial Page.

In May 2015, Officer Brian Moore was fatally shot while on patrol in an unmarked car in the borough of Queens.